The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon
(Format used for this read: Audiobook)
Glory be to the literary heavens above, yall.
As happy as I am to have this entire series in paperback form on my book shelf, I have to admit that listening to book 5 on audio was THE BEST IDEA EVERRRRRRR.
This little lovely is composed of 1412 paperback pages.
😨😨😨😨😨😨😨😨😨😨
Which should not be surprising to me at this point because ALL OF THE DAMN BOOKS ARE THIS LONG.
Yall know it’s been taking me six bagillion eternities to get thru the other books in print form…plus I developed a VERY big bookworm problem of wrist pain from awkward before bed reading position from not being able to prop the big ol’ things just right 🤣
The narrator of the audiobook takes 55 hours to read all those pages.
Which is also 😨😨😨😨😨😨😨😨😨😨😨😨
BUT…..
When you listen to books at 1.5-2x speed like I do, it takes WAY less hours than what is recorded.
BTW, I am fully aware this is a super weird thing to do and I have NO CLUE why I need to listen to books so fast. All I know is when I try to listen at regular speed, I want to jump outta my skin because it is SO FRIGGIN SLOW. I feel like I’m listening to someone speaking at sloth pace. Drives me super nutty. I know…I have issues. We’ve discussed this before…it’s not going anywhere anytime soon.🤣
Yall…let me just say that listening to this book was LOVELY.
And also made hours of dreary domestic tasks a tad more bearable….it even made dreaded school car pick up line more tolerable (did yall know it IS possible to not lose your mind in that thing? It’s true….get you a good audiobook to absorb yourself in and you’ll forget just for a few wonderous minutes that at least 30-45 minutes of your day is wasted in that dang line…well, you may not forget but you won’t hate it *as* much)
I wasn’t crazy about the narrator the first few chapters.
I am SO used to listening to and watching the characters on the TV series since I indulged in Season 1, that whenever I have read books 2 thru 4 myself, I have visualized the actor’s faces and voices.
I can’t UNSEE or UNHEAR them now in my brain! They have BECOME the characters to me. It’s kinda strange.
So it was an adjustment to me to hear a new voice giving them life.
The narrator’s accents are VERY good though and her voice is expressive in just the most perfect way….and after awhile, I completely adjusted my listening, got over my weird hang ups about it, and began to enjoy her narration.
I can safely say now that I actually really like her as a narrator for this series! Just took me a hot minute to get on board with the newness.
The best part about listening though was that it DID NOT TAKE FOREVER TO FINISH!
I do enjoy these books (for the most part…there are ALWAYS some cringey moments I can not stand….which you have heard about in the 4 other reviews!) but I do NOT enjoy the LENGTH of them.
I may quite possibly jump over to an “audio only” policy with the rest of the series from now on.
ANYWAY……let me get to the official summary so I can tell you what I thought about the ACTUAL story:
“The year is 1771. Claire Randall is still an outlander, out of place and out of time. But now she is linked by love to her only anchor: Jamie Fraser. They have crossed oceans and centuries to build a life together in North Carolina. But tensions, both ancient and recent, threaten members of their clan.
Knowing that his wife has the gift of prophecy, James must believe Claire, though he would prefer not to. Claire has shared a dreadful truth: there will, without a doubt, be a war. Her knowledge of the oncoming revolution is a flickering torch that may light his way through perilous years ahead – or ignite a conflagration that will leave their lives in ashes.
Wow…that seems quite the vague summary, doesn’t it? 🤣
But I find it to be quite appropriate because while a WHOLE LOT happens in these lengthy pages (as per usual Outlander style), there is also a WHOLE LOT of just regular, daily LIFE things too.
Plenty of action and adventure to be had: murders, battles, manhunts, medical emergencies, and of course there are some love scenes (although…I will say the ones in this book are a bit different than ones in previous books).
There is also plenty of “regular life” and dialogue too that gives this book a different kind of feel than the others. Some people think all the day to day actions and discussions in the pages revolving around marriage, parenting, community building, and running a homestead are boring…but I found it quite endearing. It made the characters feel more tangible, more REAL in a way.
I think it also showed the unique ways that Claire, Bree and Roger acclimate to living in an entirely different time period while at the same time bring their modern information, viewpoints and knowledge into the past.
Seeing the continued evolution of Claire & Jamie’s marriage as they age is handled quite wonderfully by the author, as are the difficulties Bree and Roger experience in the tumultuous beginning of their own marriage and parenthood journey.
Speaking of Roger…..
I wasn’t really a big fan of his the last few books…I don’t really know why….but this book changed my turned my opinion COMPLETELY around. I now ❤ him.
(And OMG just to warn you…he goes THRU IT and experiences something quite horrendous in this book that totally broke my heart)
This book picks up EXACTLY where book 4 left off. It’s like LITERALLY the same day I think that Book 4 ended on.
The other books in the series (so far) have not done that…there is usually some kind of big time jump either forward or backward.
So that was kinda fun, especially since I’m reading all of these fairly close together. It was like I just turned a page from the last part of Book 4 and boom…book 5 began! There was actually zero time travel in this book which also is quite different from the others in the series.
Was there some problematic shit sprinkled throughout book 5 like the other books?
Of course…I kinda expect it at least SOMEWHAT…but I didn’t feel it was as prominent here as other books.
Sexism, racism, violence, inaccurate stereotypes all rear their ugly heads here and there….but again not as drastic as before.
I was surprised at the end of the book when the whole Native American narrative took a turn I was not expecting….and it made me very curious as to where this piece of the story will go in future books.
As yall know, my love for these books is quite the conflicted one. I have no idea why I still like them EVEN WITH their problematic elements.
I’m not sure if I’m overlooking them in a way because I am so engrossed in the story as a whole or what the hell my deal is….but 5 books in I can tell yall that I do label myself an Outlander Fan.
Maybe a fickle fan, but a fan nonetheless.
I feel like I should have a bunch more to say on a book that has so much to say.
But really… I just need to say that I enjoyed this book as a whole …. and listening to the audio version definitely contributed to the enjoyment immensely.
I need to get back at watching the series too as I am not up to date with the show episodes as I am with the books. (I really don’t watch a lot of shows yall so it takes me SO VERY LONG to get thru an entire series LOL)
Outlander book 6….I’ll be hearing from ya on my headphones soon enough…..